Internet of Things: 300,000 more things become connected every hour

The Internet of Things is surging past consumer-centered connections involving smart phones and satellites and is poised to transform traditional industries with billions of sensors that are as chatty as they are curious. And Chicago's leaders say they want this city at the forefront.

Cisco chief globalization officer Wim Elfrink kicked off the second annual Internet of Things World Forum in Chicago on Tuesday, presenting this point of view and an array of data on the emerging sector, which refers to the technology that allows objects to collect, report and sometimes respond to data.

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Cisco, the California-based networking giant with a large stake in the future of the Internet of Things, hosts the forum. Many of the more than 1,500 attendees are customers and global business partners.

Elfrink said more than 3 billion objects have been digitally "connected" in the last year and that the number is growing by 300,000 things every hour.

"And," he said, "one percent of all things that can be connected, are connected."

Elfrink put 37 percent of the Internet of Things in the industrial space. By 2017, he said, that number will surpass 50 percent.

"Industry operations will change more radically in the next 10 years than they have in the last 50," said Keith Nosbusch, chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation.

"Come make it work here," he said. "We want to be the center of this industry."

Koch, interviewed onstage by Elfrink, said he has come to appreciate the importance of tools such as interactive applications. He cited the city's "plow tracker" app, which lets residents see the status of snow removal.

"It's transformed the way people understand the way government does what it does," he said. "It's a very, very powerful tool."

Inbar Lasser-Raab, Cisco's VP of enterprise networking and Internet of Things marketing, said that the last several years have been mostly about coming to grips with the "hype" of the Internet of Things.

"Now we need to calm down, get over the hype, and really start moving forward," she said.

She also gave Chicago, a Cisco technology customer, a shoutout as she introduced the keynote speakers.

"Chicago is building one of the smartest, most connected cities in the world," she said.